


basics of post-abandonment escapism

by nikola_tesla_slowburn



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Abed misses Troy, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dreamatorium, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, blame the server for this, i dont blame him tho i do too, i dont know how to tag this oops, i may have cried while writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikola_tesla_slowburn/pseuds/nikola_tesla_slowburn
Summary: She opened the door slowly and stuck her head in, scanning the room for Abed. He was nowhere in sight, what Annie could see however, was a refrigerator box sitting in the middle of Abed’s bedroom floor with what looked to be a door carved in the front.Annie bit her lip and made her way towards the box, cracking the door open slightly.“Abed?”
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 8
Kudos: 82





	basics of post-abandonment escapism

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry this is my second piece of trobed angst in a row 😭😭 i promise i have something really cute and light coming, so stay tuned for that!! shoutout to the lovely ppl in @annieedisongf's community server for helping me come up w this fic idea :]

Annie hummed to herself as she fumbled with the apartment lock, Britta would be coming over later for  dinner so she had gone out to get ingredients to make something other than buttered noodles for the two of them.

As she made her way into the kitchen to set down the groceries, she frowned slightly as she heard the TV running. Making her way to the living room to investigate, she felt her heart sink as she realized what had been playing.

“The only thing beyond the reach of my fists... is humanity.” Said the video of Troy dressed as  Kickpuncher .

Annie smiled sadly and felt her chest tighten at the sight of Troy. She silently clicked the TV off and took out the disc that Troy and Abed had put their  Kickpuncher spin-off on. After carefully setting it back on the shelf, she realized why it had been playing in the first place.

Abed must have been watching it.

_ O _ _ h no _ _. _

Annie quickly moved towards Abed’s shut door, she hesitated and finally tapped on the door softly, not wanting to scare him.

“Abed? Are you alright?” She asked, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible.

No response.

Annie felt her anxiety rise, she wanted to make sure Abed was ok. She didn’t want to intrude either. After arguing with herself for a while she finally decided that peeking in the room to check on him wouldn’t hurt.

She opened the door slowly and stuck her head in, scanning the room for Abed. He was nowhere in sight, what Annie could see however, was a refrigerator box sitting in the middle of Abed’s bedroom floor with what looked to be a door carved in the front.

Annie bit her lip and made her way towards the box, cracking the door open slightly.

“Abed?”

He whipped around from the wall he had been facing and Annie realized how badly she had messed up when she saw the frantic look in Abed’s eyes.

“Why did you do that?” He asked, his voice twinged with hurt and confusion.

“You broke the simulation. I was just about to see him, and you broke the simulation. You should’ve knocked, why did you do that?” Abed’s voice cracked slightly at the last word.

“I just- I saw the TV and I got a little worried.”

Abed drew a small, sharp intake of breath and avoided meeting Annie’s gaze.

Annie looked around the small space, it was laid out how the previous  Dreamatorium had been, just a lot more cramped. 

“He’s not  gonna be gone forever.” She said softly, hoping to relieve some of Abed’s anxiety. “He’ll be back, soon enough.”

Abed just shook his head and slumped down to the floor of the makeshift  Dreamatorium , hugging his knees to his chest and setting his forehead down on them.

Annie hesitated, not knowing how to help. She was scared she would say the wrong thing, so instead she settled on sitting down in the space in front of the box, waiting for Abed to break the silence.

  


————-

  


When he finally spoke, his voice was shaky and muffled.

“I thought I had everything under control. Clone Abed had been functioning as intended, he kept  all of Real Abed’s unnecessary emotions at bay. Until he was cleaning and noticed a movie that Real Abed and Real Troy had made. I must have somehow forgotten to remove the part of him that could be curious, so he turned it on and -“ Abed stopped as his voice began to crack.

“Seeing him brought me back.” He  finished, his voice barely audible.

“And- and I don’t know what to do anymore, Clone Abed is broken and Real Abed isn’t himself without Troy here.” Abed took a shaky breath, and for the first time during their conversation he peeked out from where he had buried his face in his arms.

“No one here seems to get me, or wants to get me, but Troy did. He left though, it’s the oldest, most clichéd trope out there Annie. Character A comes to Character B completely different, but they grow with each other, they realize they love each other, only for Character A to leave because the writers wanted to force a plot twist.” Abed mumbled, he buried his face in his sweater sleeves again when he realized Annie could see the tears rolling down his face.

Annie sat in silence, staring at her friend, feeling so incredibly, frustratingly helpless. As much as she had been trying to pretend like everything was normal, she would’ve been lying if she said she hadn’t spent a few restless nights crying and wondering if Troy was ok. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for Abed.

Annie moved her hand towards Abed’s and touched it gently, checking to make sure touching him was ok right now. When Abed didn’t move away, she slipped her hand into his and gave it a small squeeze and rubbing her thumb across his hands in a soothing  motion.

The two sat like that for a while, Annie occasionally murmuring comforting words, and Abed squeezing her hand back to let her know he heard her. Annie’s phone lit up with a text from Britta reading  _ omw _ _!!  _ _ cant _ _ wa _ _ i _ _ t to see u guys :) _

“Crap. I forgot Britta was coming.” Annie muttered. “Do you want me to ask if we can reschedule?”

Abed shook his head. “It’s fine, she can come, I’ll just stay in here if that’s ok.”

Annie grimaced, “Abed I don’t think this is health -“

“Please. I just need to see him.” Abed pleaded, his voice  weak .

Annie sighed softly and nodded, standing up. 

“Okay, if you need  me, I’ll just be out in the living room, me and Britta will probably just end up watching a movie or something.” Annie gave Abed one last reassuring smile before slipping out the front door.

Abed nodded and stood up himself, taking a shaky breath and closing the door to the  Dreamatorium , closing his eyes and bringing himself back to the scene he had been visiting earlier.

A warm, sunny day, a dock, and a boat with a blurry figure standing at  its edge, waving wildly.


End file.
